News

Volunteer Day kicks off with community activities

Volunteer Day kicks off with community activities

The well-known Princeton motto "Princeton in the Nation's Service and in the Service of all Nations" will become a reality tomorrow as members of the Princeton community come together for the first annual Campus Volunteer Day.The event will focus on outdoor activities, and the entire University community is encouraged to participate.Sasa Olessi Montano, director of the Pace Center for Community Service and one of the event coordinators, said she hopes to "start something new that will continue to expand as a Princeton tradition."While a similar event took place two years ago under the umbrella of the Office of Community and State Affairs, this is the first year the Pace Center has planned CVD.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Prospect Garden displays a perennial masterpiece

Amidst the peace and serenity that envelop Prospect Garden, there is rarely an unoccupied moment in this distinctive space.A focal point of the Princeton campus for decades, the Garden welcomes visitors strolling along the paths, prospective students tentatively glancing at the well-tended flower beds and newly married couples carefully positioning themselves for photos next to the fountain.However, it is the students now sitting on the benches, reading on the grass and pausing on the paths that give John Wisniewski most pleasure.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Fines issued for hazardous waste

Princeton, along with five other New Jersey colleges and universities, was recently issued hefty fines by the U.S.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Carnegie law expert probes democracy by force in Iraq

Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace addressed the legitimacy of the imposition of democracy by force in a lecture in Dodds Auditorium yesterday afternoon.The Iraq debate is the "deepest, most emotional debate about American foreign policy since the Vietnam War," said Carothers, the director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment.He summarized the arguments of skeptics and supporters of United States intervention in Iraq, focusing on the debate over whether the ousting of a dictatorship and the institution of democracy provided a justifiable rationale for war.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Black sororities divide University administration wary of Greek life

Aside from the Greek letters in their names, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta have little in common with other fraternities and sororities.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Guiding visitors through the world of art

Kathy Sartarelli, a docent archivist and tour guide at the Princeton University Art Museum, has found unique ways to bring the beauty and importance of art out of impenetrable glass cases and into the consciousness of visitors.This past Thursday during a tour for a College of New Jersey group, she wielded a Chinese calligraphy brush and began to mimic the graceful inscription of an ancient Chinese scroll.Discussing Buddhist figurines, she brought current events into play by displaying 2002 news clippings of a Buddhist statue torn down by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

TV hosts Donahue, Poznir blast media coverage of war with Iraq

Phil Donahue and Vladimir Poznir, former hosts of popular television news programs in the United States and Russia, discussed yesterday the U.S.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

Tibetan musicologist discusses native culture, documentary

Ngawang Choephel spoke in chops, stopping mid-sentence and using a quiet but resolute voice as he reflected upon his six years of imprisonment by the Chinese.

NEWS | 11/06/2003

PRINCO to advise WWS endowment

The lawsuit filed against the University by the Robertson family, which is trying to regain control of the $550 million behind the Wilson School, grew more tense yesterday.The University members of the Robertson Foundation, which controls the endowment, outvoted the family in a decision to give the University investment office more say in how to manage the assets.The Robertson family members portrayed the 4-3 vote as another example of the University taking control of the Foundation's assets and commingling the endowment with the University's.But the University said the move had been recommended after a review of 10 other potential investment advisers and was in the Foundation's interest.The Robertson board resolution said the Princeton University Investment Company, PRINCO, would be retained "to advise the investment committee and manage the assets of the Robertson Foundation subject to the continued oversight of the investment committee and the Robertson Foundation board," according to Douglas Eakeley, the University's lawyer in the case.That $550 million began as a $30 million foundation set up in 1961 by Charles '26 and Marie Robertson to expand the school's graduate program.Today's development comes on the first day of a court-ordered mediation between the University and the Robertsons, who also allege in the lawsuit that the University has irresponsibly used Foundation assets and has failed to send enough students into government service, as the Foundation's charter requires.The University has denied the allegations, saying it acted within its rights at all times and that between 40 and 50 percent of graduate students enter the public sector.In September Judge Neil Shuster of Mercer County Superior Court set a trial date of October 2005 after rejecting a University procedural request to toss the case out.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Students sue over voting vulnerability

Two students from Swarthmore College have filed suit against one of the nation's largest makers of electronic voting machines, alleging that Diebold, Inc. had abused copyright laws to keep information from the public that is crucial to the health of America's democracy.The students used the Internet to post Diebold's internal memos and emails, saying the documents show the company knew its voting machines were vulnerable to tampering and that it knowingly violated election laws.Diebold issued cease-and-desist letters to Swarthmore, the students' service provider, claiming the emails are protected under copyright law.Though Swarthmore shut down the students' network connections until they had removed the disputed material, other students across the country, including three at Princeton, have begun to post ? or "mirror" ? this information on their University websites in what some call an act of civil disobedience."This legal system is being used as a tool of the corporations ? in a sense, people like Diebold just want to protect their own interests," Bryan Cattle '07 said regarding his decision to mirror the company's emails.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Environmental summit promotes forest protection, organic foods

Members of the Princeton Environmental Network joined about 60 students from 12 other northeast colleges and universities for the Northeast Environmental Conference at Brown University during Fall Break.The goal of the annual conference is to provide students the opportunity to meet, share ideas and create common goals, said PEN co-chair Catherine Malina '05.This year, the conference, previously called Greening the Ivies, included non-Ivy league schools.Conference workshop topics included wind energy, national parks, forest protection, food distribution, hemp uses, the World Bank and campus organizing."I went to a workshop on integrating organic and local produce into dining halls," Ann Preis '07 said.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Record number of shots given on FluFest's first day

More than 2,000 University faculty members, staff, and students had received flu shots for only five dollars by 6:00 p.m.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Walzer isolates four distinct Israeli-Palestinian wars

University students and faculty engaged in lively discussion in response to Professor Michael Walzer's lecture last night.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Mercer County to replace paper ballots with voting machines

Mercer County will start using new electronic voting machines this spring, and critics have already voiced concerns about the switch from paper ballots.The county recently bought Sequoia's AVC Advantage, a full-ballot screen with a similar display to the paper ballots used in Mercer County since 1952.Computer science professor Edward Felten and others say these electronic voting machines need to be improved because they can be tampered and their vote totals cannot be independently verified ? like with a recount.A committee of Mercer County officials chose the product from a list of 19 possible machines that have been approved by the state attorney general.The county committee further narrowed the list by examining the four electronic machines that are most commonly used across New Jersey, because the state legislature might require all New Jersey counties to use the same voting machine.Dominque Magnolo, a member of the Mercer County committee that chose the machine, said the screens on the new machines show the candidate's name and party affiliation, just like the old ballots."That was one of the main reasons we chose the Sequoias, they allowed a full ballot, and all the voter has to do is touch next to the name of the candidate, and a green checkmark is made next to the person they voted for," Magnolo said.Other factors the committee took into account were accessibility, ease of use, and rapid and accurate results, said Jack Mozloom, aide to the county clerk, who receives all the final votes."The Sequoias are very adaptable to people with disabilities.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Mercer County to replace paper ballots with voting machines

Mercer County will start using new electronic voting machines this spring, and critics have already voiced concerns about the switch from paper ballots.The county recently bought Sequoia's AVC Advantage, a full-ballot screen with a similar display to the paper ballots used in Mercer County since 1952.Computer science professor Edward Felten and others say these electronic voting machines need to be improved because they can be tampered and their vote totals cannot be independently verified ? like with a recount.A committee of Mercer County officials chose the product from a list of 19 possible machines that have been approved by the state attorney general.The county committee further narrowed the list by examining the four electronic machines that are most commonly used across New Jersey, because the state legislature might require all New Jersey counties to use the same voting machine.Dominque Magnolo, a member of the Mercer County committee that chose the machine, said the screens on the new machines show the candidate's name and party affiliation, just like the old ballots."That was one of the main reasons we chose the Sequoias, they allowed a full ballot, and all the voter has to do is touch next to the name of the candidate, and a green checkmark is made next to the person they voted for," Magnolo said.Other factors the committee took into account were accessibility, ease of use, and rapid and accurate results, said Jack Mozloom, aide to the county clerk, who receives all the final votes."The Sequoias are very adaptable to people with disabilities.

NEWS | 11/05/2003

Boris Fishman '01: Moscow to Manhattan, writer searches for stories

"There is an emphasis on sex, drugs and rock 'n roll," Boris Fishman '01 said of "Wild East: Stories from the Last Frontier," which debuted in bookstores on Oct.

NEWS | 11/04/2003

Democrat O'Neill elected Princeton Borough mayor

At 8:17 last night, Democratic mayoral candidate Joseph O'Neill got his first glimpse of the results of yesterday's election.

NEWS | 11/04/2003

Morrison lovingly reads selections from new novel 'Love'

Toni Morrison, the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, read two sections from her new novel "Love" last night in Richardson Auditorium, one week after the novel appeared on shelves for sale.The novel is about the women bound to the wealthy owner of a segregated black resort in Florida.Morrison was welcomed to the stage by a standing ovation of professors, students and other attendees, and introduced by Anthony Grafton, chair of the Council of the Humanities and professor of history.

NEWS | 11/04/2003

English department considers revamping prerequisite courses

An ongoing review of the English department's two prerequisite courses may lead to changes as soon as next fall.ENG 201 and 202, which are normally required for entry into the department, are historical surveys that together cover English literature from the 14th century to the present.

NEWS | 11/04/2003

Princetonians feel impact of California wildfires

While Princeton has been witnessing an Indian Summer these past few days, California has been rescued from its blazes by firefighters and the rain and snow.Princeton alumni were among the 80,000 Californian residents evacuated who are now trickling home as the Santa Ana winds ease and attention is refocused on disaster relief.Kevin Staley '75 and his wife left their home in Bell Canyon north of Los Angeles for a local hotel under a voluntary evacuation."During the bleak moments just before we left our home," he said by email, "it appeared as if the [Simi Valley] fire was just over a nearby hill."The winds shifted, however, saving his home and his belongings aside from the necessities he had managed to pack ? photos, financial records and his senior thesis.

NEWS | 11/04/2003

Most Popular